For a second… Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha has just broken the half marathon world record, winning in Valencia in 57:30 minutes, just 1 second faster than the mark achieved in 2021 by Jacob Kiplimo in the EDP Half Marathon of Lisbon.
So far third best of all time, with the 57:41 he had from last year, in this same Valencian ‘half’, the 27-year-old Ethiopian signed a practically perfect performance, jumping into command of the solo race shortly after 15 kilometers to pack for triumph. Behind him were Daniel Mateiko (58:17) and Isaia Lasoi (58:21), two athletes who until the 15k were on par with the eventual winner. For the Portuguese, Samuel Barata was the best Portuguese athlete, with 1:02:01, in 28th position. He was the best of the four, but the only one who failed to improve his personal best. In this context, Miguel Borges took exactly one minute off his best time (he went from 1:04:21 to 1:03:21), Miguel Marques debuted with 1:03:28 and João Almeida dropped from 1:05:28 to 1 :04:56.
In the women’s race there was also an attempt at history, but debutant Agnes Jebet Ngetich was 12 seconds behind Letesenbet Gidey’s mark (1:02:52). Still, with 1:03:04, in addition to making an impressive debut, the 23-year-old Kenyan is already in second place in the distance. Furthermore, the other two athletes on the podium also managed to enter the top-5: Fotyen Tesfay (1:03:21) and Lilian Kasait (1:03:32) – 3rd and 4th best of all time, respectively.
As for the Portuguese women, there were also several personal records. The most important is that of Susana Santos, who managed to take 6 seconds off her previous mark, set a year ago in Valencia (1:10:47). Mónica Silva also improved considerably, taking more than a minute off her previous record (from 1:12:47 to 1:11:37), as did Rafaela Fonseca (1:15:24 to 1:13:25) and Carla Martinho (from 1:14:40 to 1:13:52). Solange Jesus, the third best Portuguese, clocked 1:12:28 and didn’t improve her mark by 17 seconds.
